Are you having trouble reaching new followers, getting more profile visits, and feeling like your Instagram reach is permanently down? In today’s article, I’ll talk about the most common Instagram mistakes that affect your reach, but – good news – can be easily avoided. By the end of this post, you’ll know what small changes to apply to your Instagram strategy to bring more traffic to your profile. So let’s break it down, shall we?
Before I started writing this Instagram lesson, I was going to tackle not only the subject of Instagram mistakes that can decline your reach, but also the most common errors that can negatively impact your engagement. But eventually, I came to the conclusion that this should be a two-part article because even though reach and engagement go hand in hand, they’re still two different concepts. And to kind of categorize it and make it easier for you guys to understand and apply these changes step by step, this post will be all about the mistakes you may be making on your Instagram profile.
So if you’re interested in part 2 of this article, you know what to do. I think it is really going to help you understand the difference between the reach and engagement on Instagram, and what are the few basic things you can tweak in your profile to first, reach more followers and second, turn them into an engaged community.
But that’s enough self-explanatory stuff for now! Let’s go!
Let’s Talk About What Instagram Reach Is, and Why Is It Important for Your Growth?
Instagram reach is, put simply, how many people actually see your content: posts, videos, Reels, stories, lives. And the obvious conclusion is that the more people see your content, the more of them are likely to take action on your posts, and eventually visit your profile and click that “Follow” button, to stay with you for more. I won’t be getting into depth with the algorithm, and how your posts are ranked on Instagram today, this is like the next step, so I’ll focus on the first couple of changes you can apply to your Instagram strategy, to level up your chances to rank higher in your followers’ feeds and in the explore page.
So keep reading till the very end, to make sure you avoid these common Instagram mistakes that limit your reach.
Buying Followers, Likes, or Using Bots
The first mistake has been said everywhere, so let’s just get it out of the way – but I think it’s worth mentioning for some of you who might still consider boosting your reach in some artificial ways. And that’s going to be buying followers and likes.
I get why this sounds tempting, but it really is a no-no.
Maybe you’re just starting a branded account from scratch and not seeing massive results in your growth, or you really want to have this 10k on your follower count. There could be many reasons, but probably the psychological one is the most valid – our brains are set to think that more means more, more means better and looks more professional, and that’s the misconception that people usually fall for when deciding to go for this option.
But why is it a no-go? When you buy Instagram followers, you’re paying for a number. Nothing else. No real engagement, or reach increase will come from it. These followers will probably never like or comment on your posts, and if you’re caught with a ton of fake followers, you could ruin your credibility with your real audience, not to mention brands that may have wanted to work with you.
On top of that – Instagram can tell and really pays attention to it. They have been heavily cracking down on accounts that violate their terms and conditions, so if you use bots and fake followers, Instagram can flag or ban your profile.
The second mistake you may be making that causes your reach decline is…
If you really pay attention to your hashtag game, make sure to keep them niche-specific and diverse from one post to another, you might be accidentally using banned hashtags.
Banned hashtags are the ones that won’t provide you any reach on the platform. Instagram recognizes them as spam that violates Instagram’s community guidelines, so, any of your posts that use these hashtags will be hidden from viewers.
Also, same as with fake followers and likes – using banned hashtags can result in Instagram flagging your account, and repeated flags can also result in shadow banning or even your Instagram account removal.
The list of banned hashtags keeps changing all the time, but there is a super helpful tool you can use completely for free to spot them with one click, and that’s IQ Hashtags Banned Hashtags search tool. I talk about it in this article, so save yourself some time on research and make sure your posts are always visible to your audience.
Here’s another Instagram mistake that can cut your organic reach:
Coming up with a different set of 30 niche hashtags for every single post is impossible. You will always have a couple of core hashtags representing your niche, and, naturally, you will want to re-use them in your posts as long as they are relevant to your content. Hashtags are a fantastic way to connect with your target audience, but even in this case, Instagram doesn’t appreciate any signs of automation and misleading Instagram users. In order to help the algorithm to categorize your content, and deliver it to the right people you need to be very descriptive in your hashtags, so it knows exactly what to do with your post and deliver it to the maximum number of users possible. So re-using the same set of hashtags may decrease their reach potential.
There’s another quick fix when you run out of your hashtag ideas: and that’s the Hashtag search tool. So if you’re struggling to keep your hashtags diverse, then this option here will answer all of your problems.
4th mistake that limits your Instagram reach is:
Putting Your Account in Private Mode
I mean, it might sound like a self-evident thing for some of you, but not necessarily for all of you, so let’s just cut to the chase with this one and make it very clear to everyone here. If you’re trying to increase your following, set your profile to public! Not many people will be tempted to buy a pig in a poke. What really sells your brand is the general look of your profile, and the quality of your content, so if people don’t have access to it straight away, not a lot of them will want to follow you if they have to request it first.
And the last one on today’s list of most common Instagram mistakes that decrease your reach is:
Not Using Location Tags
Location tags allow you to add your location to any of your Instagram posts or stories. This is especially useful for local businesses or if you want to attract more followers who are in the same location as you.
This is an effortless fix to reach and attract new followers to your profile.
These are all the basic mistakes that can hurt your organic reach, but they can be easily fixed without giving too much thought or time. So go ahead and apply them to your Instagram profile right now.
Of course, let’s keep in mind that reaching people with your content isn’t yet the answer to creating a solid and engaged following. There are other elements to your Instagram strategy, and I’ll be slowly breaking it down into small strategic steps to help you grow your Instagram profile in future Instagram lessons.
But right now, if you found this article helpful, show me some love by staying in touch with the blog!
Thank you so much for reading and being here today!
